Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Love, Honor, and Cherish
A Marriage/Wedding Meme
Thanks, Tammy, for my first blogging meme. I enjoyed reflecting on the events and emotions of that very special day. It seems like a million years ago! It seems like yesterday!
1. Where/How did you meet?
His version or mine? We really met when a group of singles at our church went out after church on a Sunday night. The whole story is here.
2. How long have you known each other?
We met in early March in 1968, so we have known each other 39 years and counting.
3. How long after you met did you start dating?
Our first date was on April 6, 1968. We went to the movie, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
4. How long did you date before you were engaged?
10 months--We got engaged on Valentine's Day in 1969. He has sent me flowers every Valentine's Day since then to celebrate what he calls the "monthaversary" of our engagement. The card always mentions how many months since we got engaged.
5. How long was your engagement?
4+ months
6. How long have you been married?
We celebrate thirty-eight years this year.
7. What is your anniversary?
June 28, 1969
8. How many people came to your wedding reception?
Probably about 100.
9. What kind of cake did you serve?
A three-tiered almond flavored white cake with all white icing decorated with white icing roses on the top layer.
10. Where was your wedding?
In Fort Worth Texas at the church that we attended when we met. Neither of our families lived in Ft. Worth. It was an undertaking to get the two families together because his family lived so far away--Florida and North Carolina
11. What did you serve for your meal?
We did not have a dinner reception. We had fairly simple refreshments. We were paying for most of the festivities ourselves. I was finishing my second year of teaching and he was a seminary student. We weren't exactly making big bucks! We did have a rehearsal dinner the night before. Even though I helped plan it, I could not tell you a thing we ate. I was too concerned that his family and mine enjoy themselves and get to know each other just a little bit!
12. How many people were in your wedding party?
We each had one attendant.
13. Are you still friends with them all?
My step sister was my bridesmaid. We still love each other! His best man was a good friend with whom we have unfortunately lost contact. We still have long distance contact with some, but not all, of the others who participated--like ushers and people who served at the reception.
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?
No--Neither of us cried--We did shake a little!
15. Most special moment of your wedding day?
When I started down the aisle with my Dad and saw my husband-to-be waiting at the other end.
16. Any funny moments?
Some moments are funnier when they happen to you--sort of , "you had to be there and be me to understand."
a. My veil was long and formed a chapel length train. My dad stepped on it when we were in the receiving line (I wish we had not had a receiving line--but who knew, in 1969, that you really didn't have to stand stiffly in line for an hour!). Somewhere there is a picture of me trying to move him off of it before we pull it completely off of me. He appeared clueless1
b. When we left the church several cars of friends were following us--honking and carrying on. Several of the guys had been telling my husband that they were going to follow us to where we were spending the night (They didn't know where we were going) We stopped at a traffic light about a mile from the church. We were in the left lane and a car full of people we did not know was in the right lane at the light. The man driving motioned for us to turn in front of him when the light changed--thereby escaping all the people following us. We did--and realized we were turning into the zoo! We found a detour through the zoo and didn't see our friends again for several days!
c. You know, I remember laughing at the reception, but I couldn't tell you what was funny or much of what was said in conversation with people. It just went by in a blur!
17. Any big disasters?
No--It all went surprisingly well.
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Remember the teacher/seminary student budget? We went thirty miles down the highway to Dallas!
19. How long were you gone?
The seminary student had to be at class on Tuesday--So we had two days. However, we considered the whole summer our honeymoon. We sublet a student apartment for the summer and he finished school just three weeks after our wedding. We moved to another apartment when school started over in August and went back to "real life."
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change?
Given the circumstances of time and distance between families there is nothing I would change about what we planned. I do wish the families had had more time together.
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
For most of our marriage I have slept on the left side of the bed.
22. What size is your bed?
I imagine my answer is different from what most people say--and it's not really about the bed.
We have had beds of all sizes full, queen, and king--and the last one we bought was a king size one that adjusts to different positions. He liked it--me, not so much. Now we closely share almost every moment of our lives; but when we sleep he is in a hospital bed and I am nearby in a single/day bed. I'm going to put an ADDENDUM at the end of the meme to tell a little more about our unique story. I plan to write about our remarkable journey. I will give a little preview of the story now.
23. Greatest strength as a couple?
Perseverance
24. Greatest challenge as a couple?
Patience--But we have both REALLY improved on this in the last two years!
25. Who literally pays the bills?
He does, but he makes sure I know what he has done.
26. What is your song?
"Cherish Is The Word"--The Associations version--That's how my blog got it's name!
27. What did you dance your first dance to?
At a Baptist wedding in Texas--with the reception at the church--to a SEMINARY STUDENT--in 1969--with all of my conservative daughters-of- a-Baptist-preacher paternal aunts in attendance???? Come on now! The closest thing to dancing was the pianist who played "show tunes" throughout the reception.
28. Describe your wedding dress:
It had an empire waist with a lightly beaded lace bodice and long full lace sleeves that had long cuffs with little covered buttons. My veil, made by my an aunt, was long with several layers of tulle pulled together into a flat bow made from the same material as the dress. The dress was long without a train and the veil formed a short chapel length train. It was simple, but exactly what I wanted. My dress was made by the very talented mother of a high school friend. I showed her a picture from a magazine and she made the dress exactly like the picture.
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?
Mostly white roses with yellow and white daisies.
30 Are your wedding bands engraved?
My husband's is engraved with our names and the date.
Addendum-- A brief glimpse at the last two years of our lives. There is much more to be told.
Two years ago our lives changed. We have always been on a remarkable journey together, but we had no idea how much life could change. Lee became very ill in the summer of 2005 and after four days in intensive care suffered respiratory failure. He was entubated and later placed on a ventilator. After almost three months in the hospital and rehab, it was determined that he would not be able to be weaned from the ventilator as the doctors had hoped. Over the next months he retired from his career in religious publishing and I took an extended leave from my position as an elementary school principal. I later also retired.
In the last two years we have learned more than we ever thought we wanted to know about health care, ventilators, feeding tubes and perseverance in the time of trouble. We have also learned more than we thought possible about God's care and grace, the love of family and friends, and the importance of life and living in God's will.
We still do not understand this part of our life's journey, but we know without a doubt that God is with us and will continue to guide our paths and decisions if we depend on Him. My husband is a remarkable man who continues to seek God's will, work for the Kingdom, and be a blessing and inspiration to all who know him. I'll tell the rest of the story in a post soon.
I'm new to blogging and don't quite understand the meme tagging ettiquette. Whoever has a wedding story to share is welcome to try this meme. Enjoy!
Labels: Family, Marriage, Precious Husband
2 Comments:
Well, I enjoyed reading this meme and learning more about you and your life.
June 28th was my Mama's birthday. :-)
You commented on my blog about taking my new grandbaby fishing with me and Jessica - you can bet if I have anything to do with it, she'll be going fishing with us. ;D
Have a great weekend, Myrna. :-)
Myrna...this was beautiful!
My eyes teared up as I read the end...you and your beloved husband sound like your love and faith is incredible strong.
Reading about your wedding, it was fun to see a few things that we had in common...even though a bit in different eras. But it's amazing just how much things remain the same.
I had a friend who pretended to chase us towards the coast after the wedding...she did this for only about ten minutes but I have to admit, it was all kind of fun! We even loved it when cars cheerfully honked at us due to our "just married" sign on the car!
I'm so glad you did this meme...what a blessing to read!
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